Logistics firm TCI Express planning drone deliveries by FY22-end

Express logistics company TCI Express is looking to begin deliveries using drones by the end of the ongoing fiscal, a top company official said.

Recently, the company concluded its initial trials, TCI Express Managing Director (MD) Chander Agarwal told PTI.

In the trials conducted in Ahmedabad, medicines and other urgent/immediate delivery packages weighing 5-10 kgs were delivered to customers, he said.

"TCI Express has been continually adopting and investing in cutting-edge technologies to bring long-term value for customers. We look forward to initiating the express drone delivery concept by the end of this fiscal year," Agarwal said.

Without sharing any investment amount, the MD said the company has already defined a corpus for this pilot project which will be utilised towards setting up infrastructure.

More trials for a higher weight category will be conducted soon, he said, without divulging further information.

Sharing more details related to the project, the MD said the trials were conducted in collaboration with a startup and made-in India drones were used during the trials.

With the trials, "TCI Express has become the first express logistics company in India to conduct drone delivery trials," Agarwal claimed.

"Express drones delivery is going to be the future, helping to cut costs, reduce delivery times specially for urgent deliveries and drive efficiency while optimizing human resources and minimizing dependency on road transport," he said.

Based in Gurugram (Haryana), TCI Express is an express logistics services provider with its 800 offices covering more than 40,000 locations in India.

The firm has a significant customer base from sectors like auto, pharma, textile, engineering, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) etc.